Even If It Breaks Your Heart
by tjmack
Summary: It happened so fast. She was falling and it was going to hurt...until she wasn't. Something had caught her, and from the groan sounding from behind her, that something was a someone, and she knew just who it was.


_**A/N:** _This is my first time writing for Hart of Dixie. I apologize if the characters are a little OOC, as it generally takes me a few stories to get the characters down correctly. This is completely unbeta'd, so any and all mistakes are my own. I am open to constructive crit, so long as it's not mean or rude; as I've gotten reviews like that in the past. I sincerely hope you all enjoy this!

* * *

Zoe groaned as she smacked the box of cereal against the counter. Lavon's head snapped up at the unusual violence coming from the young doctor. Ever since Zoe and Wade had officially started to date, she had been happier. Everyone in town had noticed it. She smiled more, laughed easier, and it was a known fact by now that Wade Kinsella made Zoe a much calmer person.

However, her brutal attack on the cereal box seemed to claim that perhaps they had been wrong. That or something else was bothering her.

"What's up, Zoe?" He asked, a hint of hesitance in his voice as he spoke.

Zoe's head snapped in Lavon's direction, as she glared at him. "Why does he have to be such an ass!"

Lavon hung his head, giving it a slight shake. Should have known that Wade would do something to screw it all up. The man had a good heart, but he had a tendency to screw up his own happiness. Lavon had seen it play out many, many times before. He should have seen it coming really, but Lavon had been blindsided with how happy they both had seemed.

"What did Wade do?" Lavon asked, as he sidled up beside Zoe.

With a gentle shake of her head, she stared into her still empty bowl. Lavon lent forward and cocked his head. He saw a single tear trickle down her cheek. "It's not his fault." Her voice was soft and weak. She hated feeling so...vulnerable. She was Zoe Hart, she had conquered New York and it was Bluebell that was going to pull her down and break her heart.

"Really? Because you sure made it seem that way, not but ten seconds ago."

Zoe lifted her head and turned glassy eyes toward Lavon. "I screwed up, Lavon. I scared Wade so bad that he just walked out. I should have known better. It's my fault. Forget I mentioned anything."

Lavon's brow furrowed slightly in confusion. Zoe was always the first willing to talk about her feelings, and the one time that he actually pushed for details and she was unwilling to share? That was a new one, even by Zoe Hart standards. "Just talk to me, Zoe."

She sighed, her hands sprawled out in front of her. "I told him that I loved him. He got that deer caught in the headlights look on his face, before walking out. He won't answer the phone...he won't return my calls. See, my fault."

Lavon shook his head, "No, Zoe, it's not. That boy—he has a constant need to ruin his own happiness. Wade has got one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen, but he hides it away. I don't know why he does it, but Wade has always been like that. He'll come around, even if I have to drag him in here."

Zoe laughed mirthlessly, "I don't need you to drag Wade into this house to apologize, Lavon. I don't want that. If he comes back to apologize, I want it to be because that is what he wants."

Lavon nodded, "Alright, fine. I can't promise I won't give that boy a piece of my mind though. Hurting my friend is not okay." He smirked at her, before standing up. "You gonna eat, or are you just going to continue your cereal abuse?"

Zoe chuckled lightly, "I'm not really hungry. I think I'm just going to head into work." With that she stood up, and walked out the door.

* * *

Zoe grumbled lightly, as she set up the ladder. Taking a step back, she glared up at the top of the ladder. How had she let Lavon talk her into hanging up lights on the roof of the courthouse? It was like one bad idea after another piling up on top of each other.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Zoe started to climb up the ladder. The Christmas lights were clenched tightly in her fist, as her knuckles turned white as her grip tightened on the ladder. Halfway up her foot slipped causing a curse to slip past her lips.

She stopped climbing for a moment, taking a deep breath. With her eyes closed, she spoke, "You can do this. You're Zoe Hart. You can do whatever you put your mind to. It's just a ladder. It's only a ladder. A very, very tall ladder, but that doesn't matter." Slowly, she opened her eyes and started to continue climbing up the ladder.

Once she reached the top, she lifted her leg up, trying to pull herself to the top of the roof so that she could set the lights up. Misjudging her footing on the slippery snow, Zoe's foot slid out from under her. As she started to tumble backwards, her hand grabbed slight purchase on the edge of the roof. The lower half of her body hung off the edge of the building, swinging back and forth in the growing wind.

"Help!" she screamed, trying her hardest to not look down. "Someone please, help!" She shouted louder.

* * *

Wade kicked at the sidewalk as he shuffled along. His head was down with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Never in his life had he felt so _horrible_. He didn't know what exactly had made him run in the opposite direction, but whatever it was he hated it. Mainly because he felt the exact same way. He shook his head as a sad smile crossed his lips. He, Wade Kinsella, was head over heels for Zoe Hart, and he had ran away when she spoke the words. She probably hated him and truth be told, he didn't blame her.

In the distance he heard someone screaming, and it caused his brow to furrow. Lifting his head up, he glanced around trying to figure out where the screaming was coming from. That's when he heard it. The guy standing beside him, the man he had been paying no attention to glanced up at him. "It's Dr. Hart. She's falling off the roof of the courthouse."

Wade's heart was pounding so loudly in his chest that he couldn't hear anything else. The blood was rushing in his ears as he took off, sprinting as fast as legs would take him, toward the courthouse. The closer he got, the louder the screaming got. It wasn't until he was within a block of the courthouse that he realized that the screaming was coming from Zoe. He knew that she had to be terrified. All he could think about was how, if her fingers gave out and she fell to the ground that she could... He couldn't finish that thought. He was going to get to her, and he was going to get her down. She wouldn't be hurt, and he would open up. He would tell her the truth. How he really felt. Wade Kinsella was going to tell Zoe Hart that he loved her, and she was going to be alive and conscious to hear him.

Once the courthouse came into full view, he saw her hands starting to slip. He wasn't going to make. Shaking his head, he wasn't going to give into a defeatist attitude. He was going to help her. As he leapt onto the courthouse lawn, his feet started to slip slightly under the light, fluffy snow. He was barely able to keep himself upright as he continued his sprint forward. He watched as her fingers released their grip, unable to hold on any longer. Pumping his legs harder and faster, he lurched forward with his arms outstretched. His feet lost their traction, forcing him to tumble forward.

Zoe screamed loudly as she quickly fell toward the hard ground beneath her. She felt as her body connected with something hard, but could tell instantly that it wasn't the hard ground. That thought was proven as someone beneath grunted out in pain. Taking a second to catch her breath, Zoe rolled herself off of whoever had broken her fall and gasped.

Wade's face was shoved into the wet, snow covered ground. His breathing was hitched and he moaned with each new breath. Zoe looked around the crowd for someone, anyone who could help her. Spotting someone she trusted fully, she made full eye contact with him. "George." She called out. He ran forward, kneeling on the opposite side of Wade.

"Are you okay, Zoe?"

Zoe huffed at him, before nodding. "Yeah, fine. Help me turn Wade over, carefully."

George nodded, as he helped Zoe flip Wade onto his back. Wade groaned out, and they both caught the tears that slipped from his eyes. Zoe felt her heart clinch at the sight, as she leaned forward. She pressed her ear to Wade's chest, and cursed lightly. "I need you to be quick. I need you to run to the clinic. Grab Brick, tell him I need a scalpel and tubing. Wade has a collapsed lung, probably due to a broken rib. If I don't do something soon, he'll die. Go now. Once you get Brick, find me a vehicle. We need to get Wade to the closest hospital."

George nodded, as he leapt to his feet. He took off running in the general direction of the clinic.

Zoe eyed Wade carefully, worry glinting in her eyes. "You're going to be okay. I promise." She brushed her thumb against his cheek.

Weakly, Wade lifted his hand to grab a hold of Zoe's. "I-" He gasped out.

"Stop. Don't exert yourself, Wade. It will only make you worse. George will be back soon." She hushed him.

Wade closed his eyes slowly, as a few more tears dripped down his cheeks. "Love-" He gasped, before taking a slow, soft breath. He winced at the pain, "You."

Zoe felt her throat constrict with overwhelming emotions. Her mouth bobbed open and closed, as she finally landed on what she wanted to say. She opened her mouth again to speak when someone knelt down beside her. Brick handed her the scalpel, as Zoe peeled back Wade's shirt. "I'm sorry, Wade. This is going to hurt." Closing her eyes briefly, and steeling herself, Zoe pressed the blade against his skin and drug it across his side. Wade screamed out briefly before losing consciousness. Taking the tube from Brick, she inserted it into the correct spot, and placed the open end of the tube into the bottle that Brick handed her.

"If we..."

Zoe held up a hand, "I know, Brick. I know."

* * *

Wade moaned as he cracked his eyelids open. He searched the room through slitted eyes and deduced that he was in fact in a hospital. The smell alone could have given that fact away. Whether or not your around hospitals a lot or not, that far too clean smell is familiar no matter what. He quickly scanned his mind to find a reason as to why he was in a hospital.

Suddenly it all came rushing back to him in a flood. He sat straight up and hissed at the pain it caused in his side. His breathing hitched as he chest constricted. He couldn't breathe. The last thing he truly remembered was Zoe falling. Where was she, was she okay and had he been able to save her?

"Hey." A familiar and soothing voice came from his left-hand side.

Wade shimmied back against the pillows behind his head, before craning his neck to look at her. "You're okay." He croaked out.

Zoe smiled softly, before grabbing the small cup of water. She lifted it to his lips as he sipped down a generous amount of the wet liquid. "Yes. I'm fine, thanks to you. Wade..." Zoe sighed, before running a hand over her face. "Why did you do that? You could have died!"

"Because you were in danger. I wanted to protect you, make sure you were safe. Nothing else in that moment mattered to me, Zoe."

Zoe nodded her head. "That is sweet and so amazing, Wade. However, please don't ever scare me like that again. I thought for sure we were going to lose you before we got you to a hospital."

Wade smirked as he cocked his head to the side, "It's gonna take a lot more than you falling on top of me, for you to get rid of me, Doc." He winked, as the smile stayed on his lips.

"Someone's feeling better," Zoe chuckled.

Slowly, carefully, she leaned in toward him. Her lips were mere inches away from his, when he opened his mouth, "I love you, Zoe."

A smile curved it's way onto Zoe's lips, "I love you too, Wade." She whispered out, before letting her lips crash against his in a blissful, savory kiss.


End file.
